New York Knicks Star Invests in Vegan Snack Bars

Professional basketball player Kristaps Porzingis is the new brand ambassador of vegan snack bar company Zing.

Seattle-based Zing Bar announced this week that professional basketball player Kristaps Porzingis has made a significant investment in the vegan snack bar company. Zing CEO David Inglass told media outlet Foodnavigator-USA that the company has been "courting" the Latvian-born NBA star for two years after seeing a photo in the New York Post of Porzingis dunking a basketball with the caption “the next best zing.” The player is now a board member at Zing and will serve as brand ambassador for its vegan snack bars. “He’s very interested in nutrition and works with nutritionists and doctors on his own diet,” Inglass said, “which means he can dispel some of the myths that tend to take hold in the popular consciousness. He also snacks on Zing bars between meals, and he’s a mouthpiece much larger than we could ever have." Porzingis explained his investment as a step toward helping consumers make better snacking choices. “Zing Bar is a small but fast-growing company,” Porzingis said, “where I can get involved and really make a difference as we bring the message of higher performance through healthier snacking to consumers across the country." Similarly, professional basketball players Kyrie Irving, Jahlil Okafor, Damian Lillard, and Wilson Chandler recently committed to following a plant-based to optimize their athletic performance.